[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 111 (Friday, August 7, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1599-E1600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            A TRIBUTE IN MEMORY OF JAMES WELDON HADNOT, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 6, 1998

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is with a great sense of loss that I pay 
tribute to Mr. James Weldon Hadnot, Sr., a legend in the Bay Area and 
to the world of basketball, who left us on August 3, 1998. James was 
the father of my Oakland District Staff, Julie Hadnot.
  James Weldon Hadnot, Sr., was born in Jasper, Texas on January 5, 
1940 to Roosevelt and Arvetter Hadnot, the third of five children. At 
the age of three, his family moved to Oakland, California. James 
attended Oakland Public Schools graduating from McClymonds' High School 
in 1958. At McClymonds' he was a premier athlete, leading his 
basketball team to three outstanding seasons. In 1958, his team won the 
Tournament of Champions with a 28-0 win.
  James received a basketball scholarship to attend Providence College 
in Rhode Island. While at Providence, he led his team to three 
consecutive NIT appearances, receiving First Team All-Tournament honors 
at each of these appearances. In 1961, James led the Friars to the NIT 
Championship award. His Providence Friars' team garnered a record of 68 
and 16 during his career. In 1974, James was inducted into the 
Providence College Hall of Fame.
  He graduated from Providence in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts degree 
in Economics. Shortly thereafter, he was selected by the Boston Celtics 
of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
  In 1963 he returned to Oakland to play for the Oakland Oaks of the 
American Basketball League (ABL). He later played for the Oakland Oaks 
of the American Basketball Association (ABA), which won an ABA 
Championship in 1969. Between 1982 and 1987 James coached basketball at 
Laney and Alameda Community Colleges and Holy Names College. In 1987, 
he rejoined the NBA as a Scout for the Sacramento Kings. In 1991 he 
began working with the New Jersey Nets as a Scout for the western 
region.
  James was also an entrepreneur with three liquor stores in 1963. The 
most notable was Hadnot Liquors on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley. He 
later sold them and opened the Safari Cocktail Lounge on Foothill 
Boulevard in Oakland.
  Throughout his life, James was actively involved in the civic and 
sports community. He was a member of the California State Package & 
Tavern Owners Association, the Grass Valley PTA, the Alameda County 
Cerebral Palsy Board, the American Basketball Association Alumni and 
the McClymonds' Alumni Association, just to name a few of the many. He 
also served as a Catholic Youth Organization Basketball Coach at St. 
Paschal's School in Oakland.
  He found great pleasure in spending time with his family and friends. 
James was an avid golfer, spending many days as a Marshall at the Lake 
Chabot Golf Course.
  James is survived by his wife Norma (Cookie), sons, Dorian, Shawn; 
daughters, Julie and Jana; daughter-in-law Ebony; grandson, James III; 
sister, Virgle Stringfield; brother,

[[Page E1600]]

Benny Hadnot; mother-in-law, Edith Del Prete; brother-in-law, Gino Del 
Prete. He was preceded in death by his son James, Jr. He will be missed 
by his family, friends, colleagues and the community.

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